Filmmaker Onirbhan Dhar, better known as Onir, is lounging on a Kashmiri carpet at his den at Hauz Khas, sipping on a lemon juice and giving a sneak preview of his new film, tentatively titled I Am

Director Onir has a knack of saying and showing the real thing. The versatile man, who has emerged as the strongest proponent for portraying homosexuality on screen, is getting into an instructive mode.

It’s a film that raised some of its finance on social networking sites. It also saw filmmaker Anurag Kashyap willingly turn actor – he plays a child abuser – as he had been a victim himself. The behind-the-scenes stories of “I Am” are plenty, says its director Onir.

‘I AM’ based on real life incidents: Onir

‘I AM’ collected Rs 85 lakh on Facebook

Onir’s passion for literature and film dates back to 1986, when he left Bhutan and came to Kolkata for higher education. While pursuing his degree in Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, he studied German, Russian, Bengali, and Tamil. During this time he also completed a Film Studies course at Chitrabani in Kolkata.

Just a little away from the huddle around Sanjay Suri, we could hear him ask every student he signed an autograph for, “What’s your name?” Sanjay repeated the answer, “Rohan, this one’s for you.” Next came the autographs for Yuvika, Avideep, Shivani and Jaskaran … with a dear prefixed to each!

Even after being in the city for more than ten years, both Sanjay Suri and Onir claim that they have a lot more to explore here

For their upcoming movie I Am, filmmaker Onir and actor-producer Sanjay Suri tap the resources of social networking sites Director Onir’s next film I Am holds the potential to change the rules of the game.

In all, 30 films were made with the children working in teams of three. The first prize winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 5,000 at the opening ceremony where the films will be premiered and which will be attended by film-makers Sanjay Suri and Onir.